Prison Labour: Historical, Normative and Practical Aspects

The paper analyses the historical, normative and practical aspects of prison labour. The first part is devoted to the historical development of penal systems and the purpose of punishment. There have been different conceptual approaches in different periods, starting from repressive and retributive elements and the function of punishment to the acceptance of the philosophy of resocialization and rehabilitation of convicts, the goal of which is to equip the individual for socially useful action and generally accepted behaviour. Namely, it has been observed that healthy and productive labour has an educational value, and changes the convicts' behaviour and living habits. Purposeful work contributes to the general well-being of prisoners, and also affects their awareness of the importance of accepting social norms. Therefore, the central part of the paper deals with the issue of legal regulation of prison labour, particularly analysing the relationship between prison and forced labour. In addition, the paper gives practical examples in order to shed light on the position of prisoners. At the same time, we strive to investigate to what extent prisoners were actively employed before imprisonment, and whether acquiring practical training during their sentence helped them to be better resocialized.